Son starting Uni this year - help!

Lovaabargain

My oldest son is due to start at Uni this year (A level grades permitting) & I'm not sure what we need to do next.

He has been offered his Uni place, what do we need to do next with regards to loans, bursaries, accommodation etc.. how much will we have to fork out? do we have to pay for tuition fees as welll as text books etc.?
- I haven't a clue about this sort of thing as neither myself or dh went to Uni

I'd be really grateful for any advice etc.

Lokolo

Don't mean to sound rude but you have left it awfully late.

You can get 2 loans:

Tution and Maintenance. Tuition is for tuition fees which have a maximum of £3145 this year. This is paid directly to the univeristy. You can pay it yourself without a loan though.
Maintenance is paid directly to the individual, amounts depends on income levels, where he is living and what year he will be in.

For gaurenteed student loan to be given in first week forms had to be a few months ago. Apply online at http://www.studentfinancedirect.co.uk

However, this is for loans, if you want to fork out £6k then by all means go for it.

melancholly

it can all be a bit much if you've not been through it before. have a read of martin's guide for parents about student finance;
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/health/student-finance

then come back with all the questions you want!!

essentially a lot of the cost issues will depend on the university and perhaps the best advice is to get your son to get a job over the summer so that he has a buffer of money when he starts!

whitfreak

While being entirely harsh on your son, you don't have to fork out for anything its his degree. Although I hope that any help is properly appresiated. Aside from Martins guide, his school might have already given him some information, and he should have been sent his loan forms or online login details to do it that way in the post.

Accomidation - cost and method of getting it varies from uni to uni. For Durham (my uni) I knew I had a room in college, but I'm not convienced I knew exactly how much it would cost till after I got my results. (Durham's strange like that maybe)

Double check whats included, and what are normal "extras". Extra charges that maybe "optional" are things like JCR membership fees, sports charges (durham has a £150 ish one, which entitles you access to the facilities, but to actually use them you then have to be a member of a club or pay more on top normally... excluding the squash courts strangely). The opt-out charges may be worth paying, maybe not. But some can be of a size that can destroy a tight but planned budget.

Books- Do not buy any before going. Librarys are free (if you remember to return/renew on time). If there's some books you have to buy, try and get them second hand, or reduced (ebay/amazon market place) as new academic books are expensive. Note old editions might be just as good as the current but this takes a little research and depends on the subject (how much has calculus changed in the last 200 years....).

Due to the late applying for loans etc, if they are late coming through do not panic about the tution fees and halls bills. If your son keeps the finance office (or equivalent) informed of whats happening, they will happily put of due dates back while the students loans company gets themselves sorted. If he needs the loans money to live off then universities do have Hardship funds to loan/give out, but they can only be applied for once he's at uni and in hardship.

Other than getting him to sit down and write a budget of sorts I don't think I've got any other advice.

Good Luck.

3dsmills

Don't panic, you've not left it too late but you need to sort his loan out straight away to make sure he gets it at the start of term.

Have you been to have a look round the uni? There are usually open days organised for you to have a nose round the campus and see the various accomodation offered - then you can see what you're getting for your money and choose which accomodation your son is happy with and that you can afford.

Martin's guide will give you most of the answers you are looking for with regard to finance. However, if you go onto the university website you'll probable find there is a page for prospective students with a lot of the info you're after.

I'd suggest your son works every hour gods sends over the summer so he's got a little stash to enjoy freshers week and spends for books / clothes / beer etc, then he can top up over holidays or even get a part time job while he's there.

HTH, he's going to love it!

Lovaabargain

Thanks for the replies - I think he has been doing the bulk of research himself ( he is away at school atm - only home at holidays & the odd weekend) & he says he has already applied for a loan online at the website mentioned in Lokolo's post - but surely they would need condfirmation from me re: our earnings etc.?

He has been to the Uni for the open day & is going again when his A levels finish next week.

I just wondered whether there was anything I should be doing to help?

He currently has an evening & weekend job so I'll remind him to make sure he's saving his wages!

I'm off to read all of Martin's guides now & I'll post again with my specific questions as recommended by you guys.

Thank-you for the replies.

bestpud

Lovaabargain wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - I think he has been doing the bulk of research himself ( he is away at school atm - only home at holidays & the odd weekend) & he says he has already applied for a loan online at the website mentioned in Lokolo's post - but surely they would need condfirmation from me re: our earnings etc.?

I just wondered whether there was anything I should be doing to help?

They should contact you direct for information. Basically, if your income is less than £60,000, he may get a grant. I haven't use the online system so I'm not sure how it works but if you submit a paper application, they write to the person who has been named (my dh in my case), to say the application is being processed.

Re other help - my sil is gathering bits and pieces for my niece to take with her in September. When there is a bogof on washing up liquid, or shampoo (those kinds of things) she is keeping one and putting the other away for her dd. Don't know your circumstances but I though it looked a cost effective and practical way of helping out. It's something I thought I will probably do if my dd goes to uni anyway!

kr15snw

They will write to you and your husband and ask you directly for this information. Its quite funny when we did it we had 3 matching letters coming through the post. Mine telling me what was happening, then 1 to each of my parents.

Has he not sorted out where he will be living yet? I thought this had to be sorted months ago?

lilysgarden

bestpud wrote: »

They should contact you direct for information. Basically, if your income is less than £60,000, he may get a grant. I haven't use the online system so I'm not sure how it works but if you submit a paper application, they write to the person who has been named (my dh in my case), to say the application is being processed.

Re other help - my sil is gathering bits and pieces for my niece to take with her in September. When there is a bogof on washing up liquid, or shampoo (those kinds of things) she is keeping one and putting the other away for her dd. Don't know your circumstances but I though it looked a cost effective and practical way of helping out. It's something I thought I will probably do if my dd goes to uni anyway!

It works exactlt the same with an online application as paper.Your son puts in the application and as they start processing it, they write to you asking for any relevent information.

I'd definately agree with the buying odds and ends though! When I moved away for uni, I was also moving in with my boyfriend and his flatmate. Needless to say, they never thought of buying half the things I do, like bleach for the loo! They also had limited things like plates etc. So everytime I went home, my mum had bought things like scented bin bags (as we have to keep the rubbish in the flat till bin day!), plates, mugs, glasses, saucepans etc. Especially for the first year while I was trying to get my head around a totally new way of budgetting, that kinda stuff was incredibly useful!

Lokolo

Lovaabargain wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - I think he has been doing the bulk of research himself ( he is away at school atm - only home at holidays & the odd weekend) & he says he has already applied for a loan online at the website mentioned in Lokolo's post - but surely they would need condfirmation from me re: our earnings etc.?

He has been to the Uni for the open day & is going again when his A levels finish next week.

I just wondered whether there was anything I should be doing to help?

He currently has an evening & weekend job so I'll remind him to make sure he's saving his wages!

I'm off to read all of Martin's guides now & I'll post again with my specific questions as recommended by you guys.

Thank-you for the replies.

You have a very good son if he did it himself! I did the same :A

I cannot remember fully (it was a year ago) but I think my parents only had to sign up to do one thing and declare they are my parents and everything.

Not all information has to be given to them about pay etc. depending how he appllied. You can apply to be income assessed or non income assesed. If non income assesed they don't need any payslips etc from you and vice versa.

whitfreak

On the checking your income bit, that assumes that he's applied for the income assessed bits. If he hasn't and you believe that relavent incomes are below the threashold then he can reapply for the income-assessed bits as the system allows for changes in circumstance. Advisable with grants and alike being availible now. Otherwise get him to chase up the SLC/LEA/etc.

I like the buying essentials on bogof's idea, but check that he's not staying in catered halls before you stock up on tins and alike. If he's self-catering make sure he knows how to cook a few tasty things before he goes if he doesnt already as that will save money in the long run.